The Room of Required Lessons
by Twinkletoes626
Summary: What happens when you find the Room of Requirement, but you have no requests? Well, it gives you what you need. In which Ron needs a lesson, Hermione needs the Golden Trio back together, and Harry needs some help in a very sticky situation. (Set during Goblet of Fire)


**Hello, beloved and much appreciated reader. Well, as I have way too much free time, a Harry Potter obsession, and a account, it's only natural that I would write Harry Potter fanfiction. Since I've been reading stories about Harry's pre-Hogwarts life and about the Golden Trio, this little story came to be. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, (SPOILER ALEEEEEEEEEEERT) Dumbledore would not have left us, and neither would Hedwig and Dobby.**

Ron and Hermione groaned as they got off the ground. Wherever they were, it had been a rough landing.

(Cue flashback)

_Hermione had been trying to track Ron down all day. That inconsiderate git needed to have some sense talked into him, or maybe even knocked into him, if she had to resort to it_**. **_He had been a downright jerk to Harry ever since that stupid Goblet of Fire had spat out the name of the Boy Who Lived. Yes, it was somewhat understandable, but now it was getting just plain ridiculous. As Harry had so readily pointed out, why be jealous of someone who was only famous because of his dead parents? Hermione recalled Harry saying that he'd trade all the fame in the world for living, breathing parents. That sentence was part of the reason she was chasing Ron down now. After Harry had said that, Hermione felt the need to smack Ron. Plus, Harry was really stressed, and needed his best friend. Lastly, Hermione just missed hanging out with the two of them, together like always._

_ So Hermione would find Ron, and she was prepared to resort to hexing him, if that's what it took. Unfortunately, Ron had caught on to her plan, and had been struggling to avoid her all day. He was in no mood to feel guilty. He just wanted to sit and be angry at Harry. _

_ Hermione finally managed to find him. "RONALD!" she bellowed. Ron ran._

_ "YOU WON'T GET AWAY, WEASLEY!" she yelled, chasing after him._

_ Finally, she caught up to him. Ron was just about to enter a room that not even Hermione knew about, which would have surprised her if she hadn't been so intent on catching Ron. She tackled him, which managed to propel them both into the room._

_ "Get off!" yelled Ron, for he was currently lying on the floor, Hermione on top of him. They both got up, Hermione sending a cold glare Ron's way._

_ "Apologize," was all she said._

_ "You're mental, Hermione! You're the one who bloody tackled me! You apologize," Ron was angry, to say the least._

_ "Not to me, Ronald, to Harry," sighed an exasperated Hermione._

_ Ron glared at Hermione. "No way," he said stubbornly._

_ "Why are you so mad at him, and don't say it's because he stuck his name in that goblet, because I know that you don't believe he did it!" she added when Ron opened his mouth to answer her._

_ "Do you know what Harry's going through?! People think he's an attention-seeking jerk who'd do anything for a bit of fame! He needs his best friend, and..." Hermione proceeded to go on long rant on why Ron should apologize to the Boy Who Lived, but Ron wasn't listening. He had noticed something bright and glowing in the middle of the room, sitting on a marble pedestal. He approached it._

_ "RONALD, PAY ATTENTION TO ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU! THIS IS IMPOR-" Hermione stopped mid-sentence, for she had just noticed the glowing object, which looked like a diamond. She approached it as well._

_ "What is it?" she murmured._

_ "I thought you'd know, Hermione," replied Ron. They booth stood there for a few moments, entranced by the object before them. It was a bright blue, and it looked like a very expensive jewel. Ron reached out to touch it._

_ "Ron, don't just grab any random thing you see!" Hermione commanded, grabbing Ron's arm, but he still managed to get his hand on it._

_ The room was engulfed in bright blue. Ron and Hermione suddenly felt as though they were Apparating, but they also felt as if they were spiraling backwards. It was a rather odd sensation._

(End flashback)

...And that was how they had gotten to where they were now. Hermione glared at Ron.

"Way to go, Ron! You've managed to teleport us to..." Hermione trailed off, just realizing that she had no idea where they were. They were surrounded by neat little houses that all looked relatively the same, and also looked way too tidy to be unused. She looked to Ron again, hoping that this was some place where wizards went often, but Muggles nearly never ventured.

Ron looked around. This place _did _seem familiar. He knew he'd been here before, but when? It had been awhile back, he was sure, about when he was twelve, back when he was still friends with...

"That's it!" Ron yelled, for he had just remembered this place. How could he forget?

"What? Where are we?" questioned Hermione.

"We are in none other than Little Whinging, Surrey," responded Ron, "Privet Drive to be precise."

"You mean, we're in Harry's home?" asked a flabbergasted Hermione. How had they gotten there?

"That would be correct. I remember this place because the summer before our second year, Fred, George, and I had been worried about Harry, because he wasn't writing back to us. We took my dad's old flying car and came here to rescue him," Ron told Hermione, smiling at the memory of his rescue mission with his brothers. He then realized that he was recalling a pleasant time with Harry, and shoved the memory of his escapade to the back of his mind. Hermione noticed his change in facial expression, but didn't say anything.

"So, what do we do now?" asked Ron after some silence, hoping to break the silence by getting Hermione to work her brain for a plan. It worked.

"I don't know, Ron. If I could just figure out how we got here, then that would be a start. I suspect that the glowing jewel in that room was a Portkey, but what was with that odd going-backwards sensation? Oh, Ronald, I just don't know!" Hermione was clearly frustrated.

Ron felt sorry for her. Maybe having something to do would help.

"How about we look around for awhile?" he suggested. Hermione agreed, and they began to explore Little Whinging.

It was a rather quaint little neighborhood, and both Hermione and Ron found it rather boring. However, something exciting was just around the corner, literally.

They found a path branching off left, and decided to go down it, when none other than Harry James Potter bumped into them.

Yes, it was Harry Potter, complete with bright green eyes, broken glasses kept together with duct tape, and, most strikingly, the scar that ran across his forehead. However, there was one major difference between the Harry that they had believed was currently residing at Hogwarts and this one.

This Harry looked about ten years old, and when he looked at the much taller Ron and Hermione, there was no recognition in his eyes. Also, this Harry looked rather skinny and gaunt, and while the Harry they knew _was_ abnormally thin and short, this Harry looked like he'd been neglected.

"Uh, sorry, I'll be out of your way now," the young Harry mumbled, walking quickly away from them.

"Hey, wait up!" called Ron, following the boy, Hermione not far behind. Harry turned around.

"I _said _I was sorry," grumbled Harry. He knew that saying that might come back to bite him, but he was annoyed. Why chase him down for simply bumping in to them?

Ron and Hermione exchanged looks. Turning back to Harry, Hermione said, "We're not mad at you. We just wanted to know who you are."

"Oh, well, I'm Harry, Harry Potter, and you?" asked the boy.

"I-I'm Ron Weasley, and this is Hermione Granger," responded Ron.

"Great, it's nice to meet you. Now I've got to get home, so bye!" said Harry quickly, wondering if these were more of those random people who constantly shook his hand and jumped up and down at the sight of him. They _were _wearing robes, which is what those random people normally were wearing when they came up to him.

"So, about how old are you?" inquired Hermione.

Harry looked at her oddly for a second, but answered, "I just turned ten last week."

"So it's 1990..." Hermione trailed off, doing the math in her head.

"Er, yes, now if you excuse me, I'll be going," said Harry, who was getting rather annoyed. Couldn't these people just understand that he wanted to go home?

It was then that the source of Harry's haste to get home appeared. Dudley Dursley, drenched in sweat, had just arrived with the rest of his gang. Harry sighed at the sight of them. _And to think that I might've made it home_.

Ron and Hermione turned around and noticed the gang of boys too. They recognized Dudley, and they assumed that the others were friends of his.

"Why is it always _me_?" Harry groaned. Ron and Hermione saw his eyes flash with fear as the gang of children approached at a rapid pace.

"Who are these people, Potty? Aw, did you need them to protect you from us? Is little Harry scared that his big bad cousin will beat him up? Does he need bodyguards?" teased Dudley, the rest of his friends laughing. Ron, despite his anger at the fourteen year old Harry, briefly considered hexing them all.

Harry, however, smirked. "Well, at least Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon know I'm a boy. They don't think I'm an 'adorable little angel' who goes by the name Dinky Duddydums," he retorted, causing both Hermione and Ron to fight off laughs. When he finally managed to process what his cousin had said, Dudley's face got even redder than it was when he had finished running after Harry. His friends all looked like they wanted to laugh as well. They had to admit it. Harry was good at comebacks.

"You freakish little, little..." Dudley trailed off, unable to think of a witty enough comeback. Harry laughed. He might just get out of this unscathed.

Dudley decided to forget about words and move straight to fists.

"Malcolm, Dennis, get him," commanded Dudley. The two children stopped fighting back laughter and did as they were told.

Harry ran for his life. everyone else following.

"Harry isn't the type to run away from a fight," commented Ron. He was used to the brave Harry that never backed away from a challenge.

Hermione sighed, "I guess living with the Dursleys forced him to bring out his Slytherin side a bit more. He needed to stay clever in order to stand up to Dudley, and if that didn't work, he couldn't just let himself get beaten up." Ron nodded and turned his attention back to Harry.

Eventually, Harry found that he had no place to run. It was a dead end. He turned around slowly to see that Dudley's gang had caught up, as well as Ron and Hermione.

"Can't run, freak!" Piers called out to him, smirking.

Harry tried to feel better by telling himself that his cousin might get bored and only punch him once, but that didn't help much. He slumped in defeat, hoping that he hadn't run out of ducktape for his glasses.

Dudley laughed, "Piers, go hold his arms behind his back." Piers did as instructed, much to Harry's dread.

Dudley approached, fist raised, yelling insults like "freak" and "wimp." Ron reached for his wand.

"No," whispered Hermione, "if you go and cast random spells out there without a plan, you might as well put up a sign telling everyone that we're wizards!"

"Then maybe I could just beat them to a pulp?" Ron looked at Hermione with pleading eyes.

"We can't go around beating up ten year olds," Hermione retorted.

"Well, what do _you _suppose we do, sit around and watch Harry get beaten up?" growled an angry Ron.

"No, I have a plan," Hermione smiled. Ron wondered what could possibly be going on in the witch's head.

Hermione turned her attention back to the scene in front of her. If her plan were to work, she had to have a clear shot.

Pointing her wand at Dennis, she muttered, "Comutulus Harry Potter."

The effect was instantaneous. Where there once was a cowering Harry, there now stood a shocked Dennis, who had just been on the receiving end of Dudley's punch, which had been intended for Harry, who was now currently standing where Dennis had been.

Harry looked around in shock. Hadn't he just been about to get punched by Dudley? How had he managed to get safely over here?

Dennis glowered at Dudley. Angry, he aimed a punch at Harry's cousin. It connected, and Dudley practically roared with anger. He hit back, but Dennis dodged, and he ended up hitting Piers instead. A fight erupted between the three. Malcolm and a boy named Gordon ran up to get a better look, rather than trying to resolve it, but only ended up getting accidently punched as well. In short, all five members of Dudley's gang were currently, or perhaps not currently, considering this was the past, trying to beat the snot out of each other. This left Harry a prime opportunity to get away, which he took full advantage of. Hermione smiled. The fight would distract Dudley and his friends from the fact that Harry and Dennis had just switched places. Come tomorrow, they'd have completely forgotten any past thoughts of anything strange happening.

Harry managed to get away, and he approached Ron and Hermione.

"What did you do?" the boy asked suspiciously. He had a hunch that they'd done something. They just smiled innocently back.

"Well, thanks for whatever you did, if you did anything," Harry grinned back at them. This was officially the best day he'd had in a long, long while.

"Well, we'd better get going now," said Hermione.

"What! Are you sure you have to go?" sighed a disappointed Harry. He'd been hoping that they'd stick around for at least a little while. It'd be nice to have company that didn't shun and or try to beat him up.

"Sorry, mate, we have to go, but I'm sure you can take care of yourself. Those kids are a bunch of idiots. You can outsmart them," Ron assured. Harry didn't look fully convinced, but he swelled a little bit at the older boy's praise.

"Don't worry. I know for a fact that one day, you won't be as lonely as you are now. You might even be famous," Hermione tried., knowing all too well the truth behind her words.

Harry laughed at the ridiculous thought of him being famous.

"Thanks, next year I'll be going to a different school than Dudley. While he's going to Smeltings, I'll be at Stonewall. Maybe I can make a few friends their, where they've never heard of my cousin," This thought often filled Harry with a bit of hope that his social life wouldn't be pitiful forever.

Ron nodded, "I'm sure you will. Now, it's time for us to be leaving." Hermione grabbed Ron's arm as he left, having just thought of something.

"There is one more thing," pointing her wand at a confused Harry, she yelled, "Obliviate!" Ron looked at Hermione in shock.

"There, now his memory of what we look like and what our names are will be different, and he'll think that we managed to scare Dudley and his gang away without actually laying a hand on them. He'll still remember what we said to him, though," Hermione explained in satisfaction.

Ron smiled, glad that Harry would remember what they'd said. The poor bloke needed a bit of comfort. We these thoughts in mind, Ron decided that he might just apologize to Harry when they got back. _Wait a minute..._

"Er, Hermione, how do we get back?!"

* * *

**What did you think of my first HP story? Was it good? Let me know what you think! Also, yes, I did come up with the Comutulus spell.**


End file.
